Mike Essex from Koozai

Mike was one of three speakers at the The Psychology of Link Building Meet-up London 2012.

Mikes main focus in his talk was “Think people not website”. Discussing how competitive the SERPS are at the moment. Gaining a link from the Guardian is far better than hundreds of directories because it’s a trusted source. That said reporters don’t like giving out links.

He went on to explain that when contacting people should avoid bad emails filled with flat information. These are email that have no passion and that don’t stand out. He recommends instead that a good email will over four specific steps:

  • Why your content is great
  • Why they should cover it
  • Where they should link to
  • Why they should link

He say to always try and offer content that will create a healthy discussion. Using small steps that way you’re more likely to get what you want because you are building trust.

  1. Interact with people on twitter
  2. Leave comments
  3. Lean about person
  4. Then ask them for a link

If you have difficulty in getting through Mike recommends using the door in the face phenomenon. By making a ridiculous request you know they will turn you down they are far more likely to take you up on your second offer because they have already rejected you once.

Mike says that people like other people that are similar to themselves. So become a journalist/freelancer. All you need to do is say it on your homepage and your twitter account and people will believe you.

He also recommends that you should make yourself a woman and they get a better response rate compared to men.

And give yourself a flashy job title. It can be the difference from getting and link and not getting one. After calling himself a social media expert was the only way he got a link from the BBC after months of trying.

One of the biggest things Mike has seen is once one powerful site gives you a link loads will be willing to. He puts this down to the sites wanting to go along with the rest of the crowed even if it’s wrong so aim for one powerful site and you will get load more links from it. 

The last section went on about how to do this type of outreach on a larger scale. He described it just like the stock market where they hedge their bets. It was also the same way Darren Brown has a system for winning at the horses. Target 6 sites to outreach at once by sending similar people similar emails. Mike said he normally gets about 33% success rate.

Some other interested snippets she game away were:

  • Don’t tell journalists what to do, they hate it
  • Great information with urgency and fear really stand out. Example: Are eBooks the new content farms?
  • Use cognitive dissonance
  • Contact people by doing small steps which will make them more likely to go all the way.
  • Don’t stop doing directories

If you got nothing to write about in an industry, start a fight. 

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